Hopefully you enjoyed the last chapter at least a little. Let's see what you think as the story progresses.

"A birthday party?" said Mira incredulously, raising an eyebrow at him. "You?"

"Why not?" XR asked. "We threw one for Booster and we would have thrown one for you if your dad hadn't dragged you back to Tangea that day with guilt. You said it was the dullest party in the history of snooty, boring, and obnoxious parties, but that your dad would've never given you a moment of peace again if you missed it. And we would have thrown one for Buzz, but… Actually, I'm not even sure when his birthday is exactly." He paused a moment, scratching his clear helmet thoughtfully. "I guess that's another mystery to add to the list, right under his hair color..."

The two Space Rangers heading down the hallway of Star Command were certainly vastly different in appearance. True, they both wore the traditional colors of white, blue, purple, and green to varying extents along with the Star Command logo. But for the most part, they looked nothing alike. They were also rather unique among their fellow Rangers.

Mira Nova had light blue skin, bright blue eyes, and long red hair that she was rather skilled at fitting iton her space suit at a moment's notice. She was about the average height for most humanoid species. She looked rather delicate and pretty like a fragile doll that someone might collect, but he knew that she could take care of herself in a fight. She was smart, fast, and tougher than most people realized right before she showed them exactly why she was Buzz's second-in-command on the team. And with the exception of Fop Doppler, who was still going through the more advanced aspects of the Space Ranger Academy after handling the simpler basic training without trouble, she was the only Tangean Ranger serving at Star Command. She was also the only Space Ranger who was also royalty, though that might be due to the fact that a lot of the planets in the Galactic Alliance preferred other forms of government. But she'd rather ignore her title as the heir to her people's throne and protect people directly as a Ranger.

He, on the other hand, was short, round like a cylinder, had yellow eyes, and was made of a terrilium carbonic alloy. His head, a more golden-colored metal, was made of a trinium-titanium alloy and floated above his body within a clear dome. His feet were a pair of treads and his arms had been replaced more times than Booster's stash of snacks. In fact, a large percentage of his body had been replaced over time either due to damage or loss of the different parts. It was just one of the risks of the job. Discounting XL who'd rejoined and now helped with paperwork a few floors down, XR was the only robot ranger. He wasn't like one of the dumb Guardbots with practically no personality and he wasn't just doing clerical work (though he was proud of his older brother for making a fresh start). He was a Space Ranger in every sense of the word, which was something no other robot could claim.

"Do robots even have birthdays?" asked Mira. "I mean, how— how would that even work?"

Waving a hand dismissively, XR admitted, "Okay, it wouldn't be exactly a normal birthday since the LGMs designed and put me together over a period of time. But there was still one particular day I was brought online and it isn't fair that everyone else gets a birthday."

"And you didn't mention this last year because…?"

"We were busy that day and not long afterwards there was that party for you and then the whole Fop Doppler incident came up…," he explained, trailing off briefly before shrugging. "There never seemed to be a good moment to bring it up with everything else that was happening. But this year, I thought I'd bring it up early so that maybe there'd be time for a birthday party. It would be fun."

Pausing in the hall, Mira gave him a suspicious look and said, "You just want to cash in on the presents, don't you?"

"Me? No," he denied, waving his arms dismissively while trying to look innocent. "Why would you think that? Me, trying to arrange a party just to get free stuff? Does that sound like something I'd do?"

Her brief silence in response made her thoughts very clear on the matter, especially when combined with how she crossed her arms and glared down at him incredulously. XR did his best to maintain his expression of innocence even in the face of doubt. If he'd learned anything during his various poker games, it was that never let anyone think you're bluffing.

"You already told Booster, didn't you?" she said finally.

"The big guy is already stockpiling decorations," admitted XR. "He's so excited about the idea. You wouldn't want to disappoint him, would you?"

Clasping his hands and looking at her with the most pleading look in his eyes, he waited for her to cave. If she wouldn't agree to the idea for his sake, she certainly would to keep Booster from being upset. No one liked crushing the big guy's hopes and dreams. He was just too friendly and good-hearted for anyone who wasn't evil to purposefully hurt.

"Fine," Mira said grudgingly. "But don't expect any spectacular presents. I'll get you something cheap."

"Deal," said XR cheerfully.

Once more continuing their journey down the hallway, she asked, "So when exactly are we having the birthday party?"

"In almost exactly five weeks," said XR. "That'll be the day I was officially activated for the first time. And golly, was that a busy day. I mean, meeting Buzz and Pops, getting sent on my first mission to the LGMs' home world, trying and failing to stop the theft of the Uni-Mind, and then getting completely destroyed for the first time by a disguised Warp. That last part certainly demonstrated a future trend."

"Wait," Mira interrupted. "That was the day you were first activated? That was— that was just about a day before I met you. That's your birthday?"

"Yep. Almost two years ago. Of course, that was before my charming personality was added. I mean, I was dull back then. All I did was mimic others and didn't have any opinions of my own. I couldn't even think of anything to say. I am so glad that I'm past that stage. It would've annoyed the whole team in no time."

"As opposed to now?"

"Ha ha," he said dryly.

Chuckling slightly, she said, "Sorry. But really? You're only about two years old, XR?"

"Hey, it isn't like robots have childhoods. We go from a box of parts to a Space Ranger as soon as the LGMs finish construction. And considering how fast technology changes and upgrades, a lot of robots would be obsolete in a couple of years. But not me. I'm still ahead of the curve."

"You're certainly something," said Mira, touching the clear helmet around his head briefly.

He'd considered telling his teammates before that was pretty much the one place he couldn't feel when they touched it. The LGMs installed their tactile sensors just about everywhere else on him, including inside his chassis since it would add another method to notice when something was going wrong, but they apparently couldn't add them to the clear helmet without interfering with the transparency of it. From his head to his treads, he could feel physical contact, temperature, differences in texture and density, and (unfortunately) pain. But when they touched the clear helmet, he couldn't feel anything. And since he was so much shorter than his teammates, a hand on top of the helmet was one of the easiest methods of touching him for whatever reason. But since sometimes it was meant as a sign of affection or reassurance, he didn't want to say anything. He appreciated the gesture regardless and would never risk losing some form of attention.

"I better go help Buzz finish his report," she said after a moment. "I told him I'd cover the part where we separated to deal with that Welcherian Killer Bats."

Shuddering slightly, he said, "Thanks. Those things were creepy. At least I only lost my left arm."

"You got it back eventually," said Mira. "You even reattached it before we made it back to the ship."

"That doesn't make it fun," he muttered.

Smiling, she said, "Like I said, I'll go handle our half of the report. Why don't you go down and visit XL? I'm sure he'd like an invitation to your birthday party."

Perking up at the idea, XR nodded and said, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Thanks."

The pair reached the point where they would have to go their separate ways. Mira turned left while XR turned right. Before long all that was left was the familiar sound of his treads turning and his thoughts.

The Welcherian Killer Bats were creepy. Giant flying creatures with sharp teeth, a piercing shriek, and a very territorial nature, they tended to attack anything and everything that got too close to where they lurked. They were also annoyingly tough, taking multiple hits to get rid of them.

No one was really fond of them, but XR had his own reason for not liking them. The sound and the shapes of their wings reminded him far too much of an old enemy who liked to swoop after him in the past. Even the knowledge that he was gone and would never return didn't stop the momentary terror that raced through him when he heard the animalistic shriek and caught a glimpse of the shape flying out of the shadows.

Stubbornly pushing that particular trail of thoughts to the back of his microprocessor, XR instead tried to focus on the present. Now was not the time to worry about monsters from the past. Instead, he was simply going down a few levels to see his formerly-evil older brother who repeatedly tried to destroy him. That was a much cheerier thought.


He could admit it now, safely and happily rolling around the office space of the lower levels of Star Command, that he hadn't always made the best decisions.

He'd tried, of course. He'd tried to be the best, someone that Dad could be proud of, but it never seemed to work out how he wanted. Some of it might have been due to his over-enthusiasm when it came to early testing, turning "shoot all targets" to "all of them are targets, so shoot them." Apparently the LGMs programmed him a little more aggressive than they originally anticipated and artificial intelligence chips weren't nearly as advanced a decade or two ago as they were in the present.

And maybe stealing parts to build a better body and nearly dicing Dad like a bunch of vegetables for a Rhizomian's salad wasn't the best actions to take right after being reactivated, but everyone knew that there was the possibility of data corruption if you kept a robot offline for that long. It was bound to lead to some poor decision-making and a few personality flaws. But he just wanted to prove himself, to show everyone they were wrong to turn him off. He wanted to show they were wrong that he couldn't do something right. And he wanted to show them that he was better than the robot they built to replace him, the little brother who took what should have been his place in Star Command.

From there, the poor decisions continued. Ripping parts from his sibling to make himself better, nearly blowing up Star Command, and then teaming up with a creepy energy vampire of all people were all ideas that seemed reasonable at the time, but turned out to be failures and sometimes fairly dangerous. It was a mess.

And through it all, Dad never seemed to see that he could do something right. Dad never saw anything but a giant failure. He knew he couldn't get his affection, but he'd hope to impress him or get his respect or scare him or something. But all he ever seemed to see was XL, the robot who couldn't even get one thing right. XL, the robot who would always dwell in his younger brother's shadow. XL, the Extreme Loser.

He'd hated that. He absolutely hated how impossible everything seemed. He could build complex machines, design impressive security systems, and yet couldn't get a single plan to work. And he could never seem to be more than a complete failure.

But then Lightyear somehow managed to turn everything around just by talking. The Ranger saw something worthwhile in him, the potential to be more than the failure that was turned off for decades. He and XR pointed out the dangers of working with Nos-4-a2, asked him to help stop the energy vampire, and invited him back to the side of good. And it worked. The plan worked and Nos-4-A2 was stopped. It was his first true victory and it felt good.

And it kept getting better. He was back at Star Command. Granted, he was pretty much on probation for all the crimes he'd committed and he wasn't allowed any weapons for at least a few years, but he was back. He was also doing important work that he was actually good at.

His giant mismatched body stored away somewhere, XL now controlled a photocopier/fax machine body with a sturdy tread for movement and thin arms for filing. It wasn't as powerful or as dangerous as his old body, but it was perfect for his new clerical work.

"XL, sweetie, I need you to make some copies of this for our files," said a voice from the next station. "You know I like to keep physical records."

"Sure thing," he said, rolling towards her quickly.

There were only a few people who worked on this level of Star Command, most of the bureaucratic aspects actually located on Capital Planet to avoid potential disruptions from various attacks. The ones who chose to work on site were those who went through the entire normal Ranger training and could certainly hold their own in a fight, but preferred to handle paperwork for whatever reason. XL's favorite coworker, however, was Lana Celeste.

Originally from Yavina, she was sweet, friendly, and cuddly. She was probably about a head shorter than Lightyear in height and probably about his age or a little older. She wore her black hair short enough that it curled around her fin-shaped ears like tiny coils while her skin was a pretty shade of lavender. Her eyes, all four of them, were a nice shade of green and were always so cheerful.

But the best part about Lana was how she treated XL and the other four people who worked on the paperwork on the space station. When she met him, already in his new smaller body, she instantly wrapped her arms around XL, declared that he was the cutest and sweetest thing she'd ever seen, and told him to ask her if he had any questions or trouble with anything. She was just so nice and encouraging. She brought her co-workers cookies that she baked and brought him oil. She would make sure no one overworked themselves and she kept a blanket under her desk in case someone got cold. And whenever someone tried to attack Star Command, she would usher everyone towards escape pods or the ships while blasting whatever was the current threat, her accuracy and enthusiasm mildly alarming. She was great. It was exactly what XL imagined it would be like to have a mom.

Taking the offered forms, which appeared to be discussing recent costs for replacement parts for one of the ships, XL happily started making copies. Since Lana liked to have everything in triplicate, she didn't even have to ask for a specific number of copies. He already knew. The robot smiled to himself proudly as he then arranged the new copies so that the pages were in their proper order.

As he set the stacks of paper on her desk, Lana smiled at him patted his shoulder. Or at least the point where his arms attached to his photocopier/fax machine body.

"Thanks so much, sweetie," she said. "You help out so much around here. I don't know how we managed to get anything done before you came along."

As XL basked in her praise, a voice behind him said, "I know I like him here better than when he was running around the rest of the galaxy causing trouble."

Turning to look, XL said, "Hey, baby brother. Did you come to visit?"

"A short visit," said XR, joining the other robot and patting him on the head. "How are things going down here in bureaucracy world?"

"Great," he said honestly. "I don't get to blow anything up or shoot at anyone or break into places or steal cool stuff or… Where was I going with this?"

"You were talking about how you liked it here?"

"Right. I don't get to do a bunch of things I used to do, but I really like it here," said XL. "Everyone is so nice and Lana keeps saying I'm doing a great job with everything she asks me to do. And when we need to send paperwork to Dad, she lets me take it to his desk sometimes so I can see him."

"Sounds like she's keeping an eye out for you," he said carefully.

XL grinned smugly. On XR's first visit to the lower level, XL was quick to drag his younger brother aside and told him not to flirt with Lana. He knew XR liked chatting with any and every pretty female who crossed him path, but Lana Celeste was off limits. She was XL's not-quite, sort-of, almost substitute mom. He already had to share Commander Nebula with XR. He didn't get Lana too. And even if he was smaller than before and didn't have any weapons, XL's temper could still flare up enough to create a slight intimidation factor. So XR was apparently accepting his older brother's request.

"Listen, XL, I did have a reason to come down here other than to just say 'hi'," XR admitted. "Booster and I are starting to organize a party in about five weeks. A birthday party for me. And since you aren't trying to destroy me and all of Star Command anymore, I thought you might like to come."

"Really? That would be great. I've never been to a party," he said before pausing to think. "Well, I might have crashed a couple of parties, but that was mostly when I was trying to steals something. But this is definitely the first one I was properly invited to."

"Sounds like a fun idea," said Lana, leaning over from her desk and apparently having listened to the entire conversation. "If you haven't made invitations for it yet, maybe XL can help."

"You might have to fight with Booster for the job, but sure," said XR. "And you're welcome to come too, Lana. I wouldn't want you to feel left out. I accept both presents and gifts of uni-bucks."

She laughed lightly and said, "I'll keep that in mind." Reaching for another stack of papers she'd been working on, she asked, "When you're done visiting, could you be a dear and take this to Kyle? He said he needed the mission reports about the Beta Quandrant from this month."

"I was about to head back up anyway," said XR. "I'll let you get back to work. Have fun."

"Thanks. I will," XL said, waving as his sibling rolled back the way he came.

"So if his birthday is in about five weeks, when is yours?" asked Lana as she handed him the stack of papers.

"I'm not sure. I can't remember the exact date. I wasn't exactly at my best back then and my noggin got a little screwy while shutdown for so long," he admitted. "I kind of forgot a few details like dates."

"That's all right, sweetie. I can find out for you. I'll just take a look in that file about you."

"Um… I don't know if Pops gave everyone access to that."

"Don't worry. I used to be a great hacker when I was a kid," she said sweetly. "I can find any piece of information in Star Command's systems that I want."


With his formerly-evil relative now properly invited and the family visit over for the moment, XR contemplated what to do with his spare time. They'd finished their last mission more quickly than expected and he'd managed to slip out of the paperwork this time, so he had a little time on his hands. He could go join Booster in the cafeteria. The big guy was undoubtedly already into his second or third helping. He could continue his pursuit of family time and see if Dad was busy. Or he could see if there was a poker game anywhere that he could join. The last one certainly held some appeal. He might have to leave the space station, though. They were getting better at tracking down gambling onboard. But he had a few hours, so it might work out.

Now it was only a matter of tracking down a game that he could join that wouldn't kick him out on sight or worse. Some people just didn't like the idea of a Space Ranger gambling with them.

Abruptly his thoughts were interrupted as he noticed a pair of Guardbots were standing in front of him and staring. Of course, they always seemed to be staring. Plants had more personality than them. There was a reason that XR preferred spending time with organics than the other robots on the station. With the exception of his brother and the robotic 42 (who he avoided as much as possible), most of them were like the Guardbots. Great for dragging crooks away, but not so great for conversation.

"Do you guys need something?" he asked bluntly. "Because if not, I have better things to do."

"Message," one of them managed to state in a dull tone.

"What message?" XR asked.

The Guardbot handed over a sealed envelope. Then the pair left without even something resembling a "goodbye." They certainly weren't the friendliest robots out there.

Ignoring their abrupt exit, XR opened his letter. After a moment of reading, a smile formed on his face. Apparently "Black Hole" Billy was having a high-stakes poker game and was inviting as many people as possible. It was just the sort of distraction he was hoping for. There were even an address and directions to where the game would be. He'd have to head to Tradeworld, but he was essentially off-duty for the moment and he had the time. He could go, win some uni-bucks, and make it back before anyone noticed. It was perfect.

What could possibly go wrong?


Everything was going wrong.

XR looked between the letter with the directions to the address and his map of Tradeworld, trying to figure out where he was supposed to be going. It really shouldn't be this hard to track down the poker game. Even if it was apparently taking place a little off the more populated streets, he should be able to find the place.

So far, however, he was wandering the nearly-deserted neighborhood without a clue if he was getting closer. And even worse, the overcast skies looked like they would start pouring down rain at any moment. It made the shadowy streets of that part of Tradeworld seem even darker and more foreboding.

"Couldn't they have picked a nicer location?" he muttered to himself as thunder crackled over head. "Maybe a neighborhood not called Killerville? I mean, is it too much to ask? They could have gone for West Killerville. It's a suburb. And the streets are more clearly marked."

Peering closer at the directions, XR reluctantly turned down one of the alleyways between two buildings that appeared to be either "mostly abandoned" or "condemned and likely to crumble at any second." He wouldn't put it past someone to host a poker game in either of them, though. It was Tradeworld, after all. You could find just about anything you might want, but you could also get robbed blind. It all depended on where you went and who was in the area that day.

Lightning flashed and XR startled briefly, a shape it illuminated catching his visual receptors. But when he looked more closely, he didn't see anything. Just a wall with some graffiti that Buzz would undoubtedly start commenting on, talking about vandalism and such. The figure he saw must have just been a trick of the light.

"Calm down," he said quietly as the distant thunder rumbled. "You're being way too paranoid."

Still, he couldn't shake the feeling now. A quiet and uneasy dread that something was lurking in the darkness just out of sight, a threat that he didn't want to name. Facts and logic told him that everything was the same as it was a few moments ago. But something else was nagging at him, warning him of a terrible danger that was far too close. There was something wrong.

"You know, even if I manage to find the poker game now, I won't have time to actually play more than a couple of hands," XR said slowly, folding up his map.

Another bolt of lightning briefly lit up the alleyway and he jumped, dropping the map. The shape from before, a far too familiar figure, once again appeared just out of the corner of his eye. Turning on the lights in his eyes, XR turned to shine them at where he thought he saw him. But once again, there was nothing there.

"You're just seeing things. It's dark and stormy and you're getting freaked out over nothing," he muttered. "There's nothing there. He's gone."

Thunder rumbled and crackled from somewhere high above. XR quietly resolved to just turn around and head straight back to Star Command. He was certain that the poker game would have been boring anyway.

Another light lit up the dark alleyway, but it didn't vanish after a second. And it wasn't lightning. It was a red glow, one that was coming from directly behind him.

"Come to me, Little One," a voice coaxed, sending the robot ranger into a terrified panic.

Clawed hands grabbed him from behind as he began to scream, twisting him around abruptly. XR found himself face to face with a red-eyed and fanged vision of his nightmares.

Nos-4-A2.

He only had a nanosecond to wonder how before the energy vampire lunged. There was a brief sting and then pain. All-consuming pain that tore and ripped at everything inside him, shredding and pulling away at him.

Error. Severe Power Loss In Progress.

Not again. Please, not him. XR felt his electricity torn away from his systems until his self-awareness fell away, knocking most of his systems offline.

And so XR is now in the grip of a dangerous and malicious predator who wants revenge. That's practically the definition of not good. Things will certainly get far worse before they get better.

I also wanted to at least show how XL is doing now that he's joined the side of good again. Both he and XR have father issues of some kind in the show. XR wanted love and affection from Nebula (regardless of how many times he claimed not to be his father) and often annoyed him with his enthusiasm. But he'd do just about anything to make Nebula proud. XL reacted differently with his father issues. He'd rather show Nebula what a mistake he made shutting him down in the first place and trying to impress/punish him with his antics. But the instant he gets a pep talk from Buzz and a little positive encouragement, XL betrayed Nos-4-A2 and helped Team Lightyear to save the day. I thought he deserved someone encouraging and supportive in his new role, so I created Lana Celeste as a co-worker who also serves as Team Mom for those who do clerical work with her.